Light Breezes
by lilbabybao
Summary: Side story from my other story entitled, 'A Gentle Breeze.' A short look at a cute couple finally indulging to their instincts. NejiXTenTen
1. Chapter 1

**Light Breezes**

"You're in love with her, aren't ya?" Her back was to him sitting with her legs hanging off the window ledge staring down at the High School fields where the soccer team was practicing. The fields were lined with rolls of pink blossom trees and petals flying about.

She had her navy blazer wrapped around her waist, v-neck maroon sleeveless sweater over her white buttoned shirt. She had on her navy knitted knee-highs and indoor sandals. Earlier she took off her badge and school tie and threw it on the desk in front of him after she returned from inspecting the grounds. She was the only one that he ever allowed the indulgence of preserving her individual identity by breaking the uniform codes.

He didn't look up to question what she was insinuating at but she always had a mischievous manner and mysterious way about her. Sometimes he wondered if she saw things that he couldn't from the way she talked and acted. He was trying to finish inputting the assigned charts for all the elected class representatives for the student body records. It was originally Lee's job as Secretary but he went missing after the first school year's student body introduction meeting and Naruto a new freshman dared to come in and loudly dragged the Soccer Captain downstairs.

"You miss her, don't ya?" she asked and this time he looks up at her back. She looked fearless and confidant sitting on the sill without any support of her arms. She had always been tomboyish and reckless. The only person she could be talking about was his cousin who was sent to study abroad recently. "Why was she asking him these strange questions?" he thought to himself.

She had been his close friend since Middle School when she moved to Konoha from China. Her father was a sword smith in a long line of family known in the arts of Japanese swords craft who married her mother, who was a famous Chinese opera singer and made headlines for their controversial union. Her parents back then were in a middle of a nasty divorce and she was lonely kid in a new school. When he met her, she wouldn't give him her surname. She said that she was a person with no ties to any families or countries. That was just how strange she was and different in the way she thought. Back then she was a breath of fresh air that was different from the constricted world he lived in that was overlapped by clan's strict rules, family's pride, and ceremonial rituals.

"I've seen the way you look at her when she enters the room. The way your eyes just follow her movements," said the girl with the odango hairdo and long bangs being lightly brushed by the occasional gusting winds. She sighs as she looks up at the direction of the clouds moving slowly in the sky.

He was wondering if his protective ways toward his cousin was being misconceived by her. He had always been looking out for Hinata since childhood because that was his duty to do so. But now that she was older does that mean that his concern for her has gone beyond familial concerns. He was puzzled by his friend's observations and questions. He finally stopped typing, stood up and started to walk toward her.

She continued, "Do you wish that she started her freshman school year here so that you can keep an eye her? Make sure that she was in the same class as her crush? Prepared a garden for her so that she would join the club that you found fit for her?" She averted her attention again down at the athletes playing on the fields.

He was standing right behind her now and had his hands outstretched leaning on the sides of the window frame. Slowly he leans in to whisper in her ear, "Do you miss her or is it the strong scent of jealousy suffocating this office, Vice President TenTen?" He could smell her shampoo that always had a hint of lemon and coconut. To him it was refreshing compared to his that always smelled of tea leaves and strong ointments, a concoction from his clan's homeopathic blend.

He continues to tease her, "If I remember correctly, you were staring at the Uchiha when I confronted him this morning at the gates for violating school uniform codes." He didn't like the kid or how the female population swarmed toward him but he was his new problem sent by the principal to personally watch over. He decided that he would teach the kid discipline later on with judo lessons and maybe some tea ceremonial practice to calm all the anger and grief issues that the deviant freshman who was now his new project since his protection to a certain girl was currently not needed.

She lowers her head in defeat as if she was discovered and didn't want him to see her beaten look and confusion. He gently traces his fingers on her tufts of small hairs that were loose around the nape of her neck. He had always thought that she was a tough person and that she even considered him her rival. But to see her look this depressed was crushing his spirits at the moment.

Since the time they met, he was intrigued by her because every time he made it on a list, she was right behind him. Like when he entered this school his entrance scores were top of the freshman class and hers were next to his. Whenever he was first of the mid-terms and finals freshman year, she placed second for both. Even in athletics they were equals in middle school, he was captain of the judo club and she was captain of the girl's judo club. When he ran for President of Student Body, she ran for VP. He liked knowing that her name always followed his.

She finally spoke, "I think I miss her more than you do but somehow I think like this when it's just us two."

He backs off from her and leans his back against the wall of the window and stuffs his hands in his navy pant pockets and slowly sighs. He was dressed in the same colored sweater vest and white shirt. His blazer was hung neatly on the coat rack and his tie was meticulously knotted in a half-Windsor. They have never discussed this matter before and it was just difficult for him to listen because the subject matter was so foreign to him.

Hinata and TenTen have been close ever since he introduced the two a couple of years back. His bashful and shy cousin had taught TenTen how to embroider and cook. Even when TenTen's packed lunches that she offered him looked disgusting and inedible, he still ate it. Every time she gave him a gift, he knew that it was something that was poorly embroidered but felt honored to receive it. He treasured anything and all that concerned her and at this moment, he wondered if she was trying to engage him in a conversation about those strange feelings surfacing lately and if they were at a completely different stage now compared to their respected relationship towards each other.

"Do you wish that I had my hair like hers or would you rather me be graceful and soft spoken?" she asked again.

"Let me see," he answered teasingly and went back to his position earlier behind her and slowly started to undo her knotted hair buns. The two ponytails were then freed from the restricted hair bands and were flowing along with the soft winds coming at them through the window. He began to brush her luscious mane with his hands until it was reminiscent to his cousin's usual do. He never knew that her hair was this long because she had always had it up.

She turned around to face him by holding onto the frames of the casement and he was shocked by the transformation of the girl before him. She looked beautiful. Not because her hair was like his cousin's but that the look of the wind swirling about her moving her hair here and there had a feral animalistic exotic sight causing his palpitations to increase and face to turn red suddenly. It was as if the animal spirit in her had finally been freed from her long dormant seal and been released when the hair ties were pulled off. He started to struggle with his balance and legs which sent him stumbling backward bumping onto the side of his desk.

She saw the usually calm boy stumbling about, hurriedly she leaned over backward from the sill and in a quick flash had maneuvered a mid backward hand stand from the window. During the 180 degree turn hand stand changing her body position to face his when she stood up again from the full somersault, her agile movements amazed him which also gave him the opportunity to glimpse at the flash of her undergarment. That quick acrobatic stunt she just performed caused him to forget to breathe and by the time she was looking straight into his eyes to check his current state, he was pulled into the clutches of his predator.

While she was concerned about his sudden strange state, he had pulled her closer toward him and complied with the seductive impulses within him. They have never spoken of or hinted at a relationship beyond friendship but at that moment something in the air or maybe the coercive and suggestive winds caused him to react to their natural surroundings' persuasions of seduction.

Thankful to Mother Nature's opportunity, he kissed her savoring and enjoying the new sensations of the heated collision of their bodies and the sensation he felt from the wet, lush, velvet-like lips pressed against his. By the time they released their lips, he answered her breathlessly, "You are nothing like my cousin."

She was tracing his lips with her index finger and then her palm traveled to his cheeks and then onto his hair. She finally replied, "Neji, you are more attractive and pleasing to look at rather than." She was cut off by his lips and they continued their dance with him leading and the swirling playful winds as their music.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

She was lying on the couch curled up in the Student Council office sleeping soundly when an intruder came and woke her up.

"Gahhh! TenTen, where's Neji?" asked an excited boy with a perfectly even cut bowl shape hair do whose voice and loud actions annoyed her at the moment for disturbing her rest.

She was trying to focus her eye sight to her surroundings and mind to be aware of the current situation. Finally she answered, "He must have gone inspecting the grounds for me today." Noticing that his blazer was wrapped around her, she smiled thinking that he must have been watching her earlier and allowed her a moment of indulgence. "What's wrong?" she continued as she sat up and seeing Lee looking disturbed and anxious.

"The boys are climbing the school walls again!"

"Then that's where Neji is. Lee, go to the roof top and stand with him. He'll need reinforcements to catch those two ringleaders," she said in her usual stern and maternal voice. Swiftly the boy exited the room which changed the current of the wind in the room to slam the door suddenly and loudly. She stood up, slipped her knitted covered feet into her indoor shoes, and slowly walked toward the window sill that she sits at regularly.

The sun was already getting ready to set due to the different arrays of colors splashed everywhere as if to announce the sun's stubborn removal from the sky.

She slips her arms into the sleeves of his usually neatly pressed blazer and brought his blazer collar to her face to inhale the strong scent of tea leaves that always had a way of comforting her. Since their first kiss, they have been working on a relationship that was unfamiliar and difficult to both.

Besides being an honor roll student and student body officiating officer, he also worked at his family's company as the newly appointed Chief Financial Officer on his spare time. Which meant that any other time he had free they spent together, had been meshed in between all three roles.

Since the first time they met, she was amazed at how a young boy had to mature so quickly due to his family situation. In middle school, he already showed signs of maturity by wearing cuff links, tying his tie until there was a dimpled crease, his clothes were always pressed, his hair never had any strays from his neatly knotted hair tie, and his arrogance showed in his gait and facial appearance. He never showed signs of weakness. Well that was until recently, she witnessed a blushing Neji who stumbled and afterwards gave her the most wonderful first kiss which was better than what she imagined it would be.

She smiled and blushed a deeper pink. Embarrassed, she lifts the collar to cover her face again, hoping the sun wouldn't tease her anymore. She liked that he had a grounded purpose in life and a large family to be responsible with. He belonged to a clan with a long history to preserve their name, respected by all around, and a family traditional art that is passed down every generation. Unlike her family who was a disaster from the beginning. Her father, the elder son of a well known sword smith, long ago traveled to China and by chance attended an opera that showcased a beautiful girl with a voice and face of an angel. He wooed her until she relented and brought her home to his family but was chased away for his fickleness and demanded that he leave her. Her father resolved to take care of his wife and unborn child, returned to China and made a living on crafting stage weaponry to her mother's traveling performing troupe.

It wasn't until later that her mother left her father for another performer and demanded a divorce. Due to her popularity in the Hong Kong, her mother resided there while her father returned home to Japan and apologized to his family. The divorce was famous throughout most of Asia due to her mother's fame and her father's family name and art. Her father was demoted in rank in the family compared to his days before his vacation to China and was asked to live in the back near the hired help residence until he could prove his worth again. When TenTen moved to Japan, that's when she realized the harsh realities of living in two different dysfunctional families and not being able to place herself toward a particular family or country.

Tears began to flow down her cheeks because someday she would have to give up the boy that she had respected and loved for so long. She walked toward his desk and started tracing her hand over the documents that he signed his name earlier for his approval.

He belonged to a family with strict rules which probably wouldn't allow just any girl to date him. She had been studying hard to prove her worth in academics. She would always be proper and respected in school to be able to stand next to him in public. It wasn't until she was introduced to his cousin that she realized what a true Japanese female should be. She wanted to learn everything from this shy and sweet girl meanwhile understanding why Neji had concerned himself toward his cousin.

Neji's job was to protect and watch over his cousin because of who she will be in the future to the Hyuga clan. TenTen found that Hinata was like a child that needed her protection as well from her family and Hinata herself. The girl was weak in appearance and too kind to be the future heir so TenTen went out her way sometimes to reach out to her and that's how a deep bond connected between the two girls. Where TenTen was tomboyish and free spirited, Hinata was elegant and refined.

TenTen always felt that Neji's partner should be someone like Hinata that's why she went out of her way to learn embroidery and take cooking lessons from Hinata. All feats failed miserably but Neji always accepted her offerings to him with a sneaky smug smile. Not understanding if he favored them or not. They have been friends for so long but sometimes she felt that he was hard to figure out when it concerned her.

She was resolved to be with him until the dreadful day that they would have to part ways or standby on the sidelines to support his destined role in his family. She, who was a disgrace due to her family and multiracial background couldn't be able to stand next to him but to only have the opportunity in knowing that her name could follow his in a ranking in school, sports, and clubs, was enough to make her happy for now. The pain and feelings that she had been holding inside for so long had finally exploded and she was holding unto his desk to keep her balance and facing downward to let the tears dripping unto little puddles on the ground.

Suddenly, she could feel someone untying her tightly knotted buns, releasing the hair ties and continue brushing it downward. The stranger's hands then embraced her to encourage her to lean on him and encircling his arms around her waist. She instantly knew it was him from the tea scent and cuff links. She could hear him inhaling her hair from behind and she closed her eyes and let him bear most of her weight.

Softly he teased her, "I can't leave you alone without you missing me so. What am I going to do with you?"

She turned around to face him and allowed him to gently wipe away her tears with the handkerchief she sloppily made for him on his last Birthday.

He continued to tease her with a smug smile, "You missed me that much."

She pursed her lips in disbelief that she was caught crying and being teased by him. Their little confrontation was cut short by shouts coming from the window. They both walked toward it to find the two deviant ringleaders hollering at the two with Lee and their friends.

"So, is the bungee ropes school regulated ropes to be used as recreational activities?" asked a screaming Naruto and waving his arms uncontrollably until Sasuke pulled his head down to shut him up temporarily.

Sasuke looked up at Neji coolly and asked loudly, "So?"

Neji grabs the ropes that allowed him a quick entry to the office and replied, "Next time you guys scale the school walls, report to me first."

TenTen then looked at him astonished that he just did something so unlike his usual stoic self and teased, "You missed me that much?"

"If only you knew how much," he replied and moved her away from the window of witnesses and indulged himself with a treat for his recent bravado. They kissed at the same spot as their first kiss but this time she lead and they kissed to the sounds of a loud chorus of boys screaming outside. The boys were hollering, whistling and jeering toward the couple inside.

As the boys left the school grounds, Naruto couldn't help being jealous and suddenly said to the others present, "When will we be able to have a relationship like that?"

"Never," answered Sasuke.

"Maybe when we start having our marriage interviews," stated Chouji who was eating his usual snacks.

"I don't care but I know one thing, I'm gonna go find that person who recently knocked my name from first place on the Street Fighter game at the arcade in the shopping district," said Shikamaru and left the boys to go in a different direction with Chouji following close behind.

"I'm gonna go with them. The new manga that I have been waiting for is released today," said Sai as he runs after the two boys. What Sai didn't tell the others was that Ino's recent perfume ads were in the latest magazine issue coming out today.

Naruto then looks at Sasuke and gives him one of those frequent challenging stares that Sasuke knows all too well. The two got into the usual track starting position as if waiting for the gunshot and at the count of three; both ran toward the horizon of the colorful sky of the laughing exiting sun witnessing the folly of the kids down below.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"TenTen, may we hold hands?" asked the young man slowly and despondently dressed in a dark grey suit and light grey tie. He was sitting in his limo with his girlfriend who was sitting on the other end of the back seat staring out the window. He stretched his hand out toward her hoping she could bring him some comfort.

She looked sad when she turned toward him but hesitant in complying with his request. She reached her hand out, halted for a second, saw his hurt expression, and then quickly grabbed his hand as if to apologize for her rude behavior.

Her hand was warm in his and when they linked; they had to scoot in a bit closer to the other so that their hands could connect more comfortably. The two holding hands then continued to look out the window on their side awkwardly.

It had been four years since the first time he kissed her passionately in the student council office in High School. They were now attending college meanwhile working at the Hyuga Corporation. While in High School, he noticed that they were spending less time together so he offered her a job in his Finance Division. She wanted to be like every other person applying for the job at the corporation and asked to be treated as an equal when applying.

She wasn't accepted until after the sixth attempt and by that time she got in, she was already a freshman in college. He liked that she wanted to stand on her own two feet without his support but as time went by that independence caused their relationship to drift apart the two dramatically he noticed. It started with his senior year in High School when he was appointed CFO to the corporation which only burdened her with his academic responsibilities and she shouldered almost all of the student council responsibilities due to his frequent absences from school.

Then, there was the entrance exam to attend Konoha University where he placed first and for once, she was third. He could tell that she was hurt when she discovered that she didn't score second rank as usual but lost to one of the infamous Sand brothers from the neighboring city, Kankuro. Later she became friends with Kankuro's oldest sister, Temari, who was in the same curriculum which infuriated him because that meant less time spent with him.

Even now that Hinata, his cousin had returned to Konoha and attending the same college with them, took up most of his girlfriend's time beside her school, work, and social life. Their relationship had been wearing thin and to top it off, his uncle had recently appointed him President and CEO while Hanabi was VP and Hinata was demoted to Director of the Tea Division.

Hinata's demotion was a stressful time in his life. She had defied her father as VP and all he could do was take his uncle's side while TenTen took Hinata's side. Business wise the reasoning for her father selling and demolishing an old family building for money versus Hinata's conservative ways by turning the run down building into a school toward Japanese arts and culture and afterwards donating it, had drained all his energy that point in time.

His Uncle Hiashi had recently been hospitalized with a failing heart that could give up on him any day now. He already had one heart surgery from a donor in the past but his health had weakened lately.

They were on their way to the hospital at this very moment. She didn't want to ride with him but his uncle had specifically asked for TenTen's appearance at his bedside immediately.

Earlier, he entered her office without announcing it to her secretary and they had their first quarrel. She was the newly appointed CFO and was unpacking her things from her smaller office down the hall. Memories of them sneaking kisses in this same office long ago when he was the CFO, was now too long ago to remember and the environment was now very different for both.

"Neji, you can't just walk in my office like this. What will people say about us? I don't want to be a burden to you like this," she said not once looking at him but was still unpacking. He stood there starring at her upset that she had hurt his feelings and he was trying very hard not to yell back at her. He was usually calm but with her sometimes he wished he could pull his hair out from the frustration of not knowing what to do with her.

"I think everyone at this office already knows about our relationship," he said harshly while turning his back to her.

He could tell that she felt bad but she continued, "I don't want any one to speak ill of you and that I got this position because of who you are."

"You did get job because of me," he yelled at her this time in a hurtful tone.

He could hear her drop whatever it was that she was holding onto earlier and he could tell that she was staring straight at his back. Maybe even wishing that he would die at that moment, he only wanted her to return to the same TenTen from back then, who was the free spirited girl that had a way of surprising him all the time with her strange behaviors and different way of thinking.

He didn't like the current TenTen, who didn't accept any of his gifts because she didn't want anyone to think that she was pampered by a person with a higher social status and company rank. He didn't like that she wouldn't eat lunch with him for fear of what others thought about their relationship. He couldn't understand why her work and school attire was all modest, plain, and common like how she blended in with everyone else compared to her dress attire in High School. She used to dress in clothes that made her comfortable without fear of what others thought of her. It was as if she transformed into a different person all together right before his eyes.

The girl he once loved had turned into someone else.

She finally spoke, "Are you trying to break up with me because if you are, then it is fine with me." She said it slowly and then as if the conversation was over, continued unpacking the many boxes on her desk.

This time he turned around with an emotionless face and replied, "After you speak to my uncle at his deathbed then we may break free from this bond that has been holding us back. He had requested to speak to you and everyone else had already had their turn to speak to him. He is waiting for you and after this Hinata will need you as a friend."

This time, she dropped the glass globe that she was holding, didn't wait to watch it scatter and quickly went toward the coat rack to retrieve her coat. The two usually mature and happy couple was now devastated from the news and approaching break-up. She offered to meet him at the hospital but he insisted that she traveled with him.

By the time they reached the hospital, she had released his hand and it felt like he was falling in a deep abyss without anything to hold on to. He was too sad to comprehend what was happening between them or to even try to make up with someone who may have fallen out of love with him. He walked with her to the ICU floor where the Hyuga clansmen and a lamenting Hinata standing about in the halls and waiting in the waiting room caused the woman next to him to cry suddenly. He wanted to hug her but was afraid that she would refuse him.

He showed her the room and she walked in alone. He stood there staring at the door's nameplate and wondered why his uncle had requested her presence at his hour of death.

Inside the room, TenTen could hear the medical equipment and oxygen mechanism hooked up to him. She sat on the chair that was placed near him while tears were flowing down her cheeks. She didn't dare to touch the hand that was lying before her.

He finally spoke, "TenTen?"

"Yes," she answered quickly. It was morbid and the overwhelming reality of his approaching death was wrenching the core of her heart. She may not like the man but he was her lover's family and guardian after all.

"I know that I have never approved of your relationship with my nephew and that I even offered you bribes in the past. I forced you to coerce him into attending those marriage interviews against his will. I had even insulted you and even deterred your employment at my company."

Tears were dripping down her cheeks more rapidly than before and she had grasped her hands over her face for fear that she might break apart into little pieces knowing that the man before her was trying to make amends with her.

She had worked very hard to get into the company but he always showed up at the interviews to personally thwart her attempts for a position in the Finance Department to be near Neji. She had worked so hard to be the woman that Neji may be proud of to bring home to his family but the head of that family had already found her in High School and bribed her with money to leave his nephew alone. He had bribed her to return to China and to never return to this place again. He had warned her that he would attempt whatever means possible to break up the two but she was insistent that she wasn't that kind of person who was holding onto him for money.

She took on all his challenges to be able to be near that person she loved and respected. She hated her background and family life. She hated that she was poor and back then was living near the staff quarters of her family's compound even though she moved out once she entered college and making money, she still wasn't rich. She hated that she had no worth to be near him or to stand by him as an equal. She thought that placing third in the college entrance exam was an omen of the approaching break up.

Even when they were in the same building, she was satisfied knowing that he was in the same facility as her but she couldn't face him in person. They had to work to together but she kept all their interactions in a professional manner. She had hardened her heart to the day that they would actually break up. She made friends and hung out with them to stay clear and avoid all that concerned him because someday she would have to say 'Good-bye' to all his usual habits, pressed clothes, the scent of tea leaves, brushing his hair with her hands, being able to stare into those beautiful opalescence eyes, and anything else that made her heart race due to his presence. She sacrificed her happiness and became the bad guy so that he may move on and become the man that his family desired him to be.

He continued, "In my will, I will name him my successor to the clan and company."

She was shocked because Neji was from the branch family and that Hinata was the destined heir all this time. Why was he chosen? She was in disbelief and the tears stopped flowing from the shock of the news that he presented her. She was confused and didn't know what to say.

She had always known that Hinata wouldn't have the discipline to survive this business world that was cut throat and dog eat dog world but she knew that Neji would always stand beside Hinata and help her survive in that environment. If need be, she would offer her services to Hinata for free if it was needed. But this news was completely not what she expected from the head of the family that was a dutiful clan rule-abiding leader and president of a company that once was a small family tea leaf business turned it into the financial conglomerate that it is today.

He then had sudden short breathing spurts that caused her to stand up and was about to hit the nurses alert button when he grabbed her hand to say, "If I could, I would bow down and apologize for this old man's foolishness to go between his nephew and his happiness. When I found out from him that you were the one he had chosen to be his wife someday, I had made it my duty on behalf of my brother to stop you in your tracks of ruining his life. I realize now after having the pleasure of seeing you at your job that I was wrong about you. Earlier I have talked to the clan heads and gave them my blessing for you to marry into the Hyuga family. From this point on it is up to you if you can face them on your own. All I did was open a path for you. If you go down that path, it will be a very hard but from what I have seen, you can easily overcome all of them."

She tightened her grip and had her other hand join in to show him that she forgave him. She was at a loss for words but knew that he would understand this one simple sign that she wanted to convey to him.

"Please forgive me and be the great woman that will make him the great man that I have envisioned of him. You," he was now coughing blood and his breathing became hard. She kept hitting the alert button and screaming incoherently, "Codes! Buttons! Colors! Please save him! Someone please!" Half a minute passed that felt like eternity was gnawing at her and she had no control over her wailing and pitiful tears.

Someone had come in the room and dragged her outside while medical attendants, nurses, and doctors were crowded around the patient. He dragged her by the arm so forcefully that it felt like he was going to rip the muscles that attached them together. He finally kicks a door that led to the roof and pushes her outside which the winds that felt the same way as her were wailing and forcefully pushing against her. He walks toward her and was trying to calm her hysteria by hugging her but she was so upset about the conversation with his uncle that she began punching him. He stood there like a punching bag taking all her brutal hits without complaint or emotion.

She hated this feeling. She hated that they spoke about breaking up and that the one person that had been making it hard for her to love the person in front of her was killing her spirits and eating her soul away. It was over between them because what she said was unforgivable and horrible earlier. She wished she could take back what she said earlier and to tell him what his uncle said to her but deep down inside, she felt dead from all these heavy emotions.

She was still hitting him with whatever energy she had left and the tears had stopped falling because she had no more tears to shed. All the happy, sad, and intimate memories of them, all came crashing down like a broken pearl necklace adorned on a neck and there was nothing you could do to salvage the once beautiful neck piece because even if you repaired it, it would never be as brilliant as it was once before.

She softly said while trying to hit her last hit at him, "Why did it come to this?"

She undid his tie and tied it the way he always liked it. She straightened his vest and pulled out the handkerchief she made him long ago and started to wipe away his tears. She folded it up and stuck it in his front jacket pocket while dusting and straightened all the places she had rumpled from her attacks. She brushed back all the loose stray strands back to where it usually lie. She then stood back to inspect her efforts in transforming the man back to the person that he was suppose to be. She bowed her head as if to signal their farewell and conclude their verbal break up.

As she walks toward the exit, he finally spoke, "Give me back the girl I met a long time ago at the Middle School playgrounds doing acrobatic flips that instantly caught my eyes."

She was still standing there staring at the door and listening to him.

"Give me back the girl that had no surname or belonged to family or country."

The tears were now painfully flowing down her cheeks and she was feeling weak from her body trying to balance herself from the strong winds circling around her because they were trapped from the wall that encased the exit door. She felt like letting the wind take her away because she had no more energy to stand anymore.

She was about fall, when he grabbed her from behind and encircling his arms around her waist like long ago. She touches his polished cuff links and slowly inhale his scent. She leaned her weight on him and hopes he understands the message that she wants him to understand. He then whispers in her ears, "Come back to me, please. I need you more than ever right now."

She turned around to face him and traces her fingertips on his lips that she hadn't touched in so long. Her fingers then traveled to his nose, eye brows and then his eye lashes that she hadn't really looked at for so long now. She finally replied back, "I am here."

They finally kissed. This time it was long anticipated due to the lack of and more passionate due to the fact that their hearts had connected to that familiar place again. The winds had also calmed down and the sun set left without leaving a disarrayed sky to allow the moon and stars to do what they were good at; setting the mood for all the couples in love that night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

She was working late again at the office. The glass wall to her right only confirmed the time for her. It was a beautiful night sky and the moon was present and shining in all its glory along with the stars playing and twinkling too. She started looking for a particular folder when she stumbles onto an interoffice yellow envelope that housed a strange envelope sitting on her incoming tray.

It must have been sent earlier today, she thought. It was a thick square shaped red velvet envelope and inside was a compact disc with the characters "Play me" splashed on it as if to indicate the immediate attention it desired expressed by the calligraphy.

She knew very well the calligrapher of that unique writing. He had been practicing it since childhood until it was strikingly similar to his father's old written records and past written memorabilia. He was proud when he succeeded the feat in Middle school. As she traced the movements of how the characters was laid on the shiny disc written with a permanent marker, she couldn't help thinking what a perfectionist he was even at that age and already had goals to accomplish. Her only goal as a child was finding acceptance and a place to belong to but as she got older that goal became displaced with only wanting him to succeed even if it meant succeeding without her.

They had been working on picking up the pieces to their once beautiful relationship. He would come over every day to eat lunch with her. Offer her rides to and from work but old habits are hard to break so she asked that she handled her own transportation. He offered her a personal chauffer and limo as a gift but she kindly refused saying that she can now afford the expenses herself if needed.

It had been a year since that conversation she had with his uncle. He only lasted for about a month after that. His last wishes were for Hinata to find happiness and to find a place where she belonged. TenTen promised him that she would fulfill that by all means not as a friend but as her guardian angel. Before he passed away, she was finally able to say the words needed to tell him that she forgave him and called him her uncle to thank him for watching over Neji all these years. He had raised a wonderful person. Neji and the clan prepared a befitting grand funeral to a great man that he was. He was buried next to his late brother, Neji's father, in the family Hyuga cemetery.

She places the cd in the player from behind her and takes the remote control to walk toward the glass window. With the remote, she slowly dimmed the lights and played the compact disc only knowing that if it was Neji, it could only be classical instrumental. She was surprised because it was an American song but not just that it was jazz.

He must have been influenced when he went with the boys recently to visit the states at a city known as New Orleans for the boy's graduation trip. Neji, Kankuro, Temari, and she graduated last spring in Finance and Economics and now the bunch of kids from that High School had all graduated from college. The song was a romantic duet and soulful jazz beats that was in rhythm to your heart beat. She closed her eyes and let the lyrics and tempo flow through her relaxing her from the day's stress. Memories started coming at her slowly.

From all the boys, she was impressed with Sasuke and Naruto the most. They were the problem kids back in High School when she was the VP of the student council, who had to discipline them on Neji's behalf. Sasuke graduated in Arts and General Business meanwhile was taking in as an apprentice to a well known calligrapher in town. She remembered a couple years ago where a troubled Uchiha trying to find his purpose in life and Neji focusing all his attention on him to make sure that he took the right path. Naruto, on the other hand, surprisingly graduated college and received the other half of his inheritance. He surprised her because he made it on the dean's list every semester when he was the one that showed no signs of academic talent in High School. She thought that maybe that was why Hinata liked the blonde so much because he had a way of surprising you every time.

Hinata graduated recently in Business with a concentration in Accounting. She seemed happier taking that curriculum rather than the Finance curriculum that the other Hyuga relatives usually took. She was very proud of her and only hope that Hinata will someday find that place where she can call home and be herself without the pressures of restricting her inner self that was dying to come out and show the world her brilliant colors and the constructions of her inner beauty.

From that class, Sakura was the one that showed the most promise in High School, who made it into medical school and continued her study under her mentor. Chouji graduated in Business and Shikamaru graduated in Computer Science to defy his father. Both boys had been friends since childhood and even now were just as inseparable. Chouji planned to take over his family business and Shikamaru somehow during college had made enough money to live the life that he pleased and with his father's approval. It wasn't until recently that Shikamaru and Temari announced that they were getting married and the news was unconventional.

TenTen was driving to work one morning in her car and when suddenly the radio announcer practically shoved the announcement on her causing her to hit the car in front of her. The announcement came out of no where and the shock was surprising because she herself was a very close friend to Temari and couldn't understand how it was that those two had managed to hide that information from everyone until now. They got hitched with a registered marriage license without the normal wedding rituals and customs. As if signing the paper was just as good as a big party. It wasn't until Gaara and Kankuro intervened and threw them a banquet befitting the parting gift to their sister entering the next stage of her life. Gaara graduated in Arts with a concentration in music.

Kiba graduated in Biology and continued studying in Vet School. Shino graduated in Entomology and continued studying toward his doctorate. Ino graduated in General Business while working as a model and Sai graduated in Art and Graphic Design and had already had his work published several pieces in the Jump magazine for his manga oneshots. The strange thing was that his heroines were familiar to a blonde model splashed on most of the covers of magazines that were published lately.

Suddenly the song ended and she leaned against the glass window wondering what Neji could possibly have in store for her now. The next one started out as a slow instrumental opening and suddenly his voice recording was heard over the soft background music. He instructed slowly, "TenTen, listen carefully. Go to my office, I will be waiting for you."

She didn't know what was going on but eventually ran down the hall to the closest elevator that she knew would take her to him. While riding the elevator, she wondered what he was doing. This was not like him because he was upfront about things and this was unlike him. As she came closer to his office, there at the receptionist desk was Kiba.

"Yo!" he salutes her while getting up from the desk and continued to usher her into Neji's office. Inside the office, he closes the door and leaves her alone inside the dark room that had no Neji in sight. She walks over his desk and there on the desk was a note that was placed with a remote control like hers. The note said, "Hit play." She did as directed and then a song was played it was another romantic song but this time it was a pop hit that was hitting the charts of the Asian Billboards when they started college. It was cute and catchy in tune and beat. She smiled just thinking that he couldn't possibly be listening to this. The lyrics were expressing the how a young man was waiting for his lover or that he daydreams that his lover was coming by looking out a window to see a lonely lemon tree. The song could be interpreted in many different ways but she guessed that he wanted her to know that he had been waiting for her.

She then walks out the door after the song was over and looks at her host to ask what was next on the agenda. He brought her to the parking garage building and there was his bike and sidecar. She got in carefully not to get her dark grey pencil skirt from ripping because of how high she had climb in the clothes. She had a light cream blouse with a tux ruffle design in the front where the buttons were. He passed her a helmet which was painful at first because her chignon near her neck was being pushed down by the helmet. He then gave her a leather jacket to wear and noticed Neji's favorite coat brand on the tag of the back inside collar.

Before she could finish buckling her belts, he had already started the engine and was speeding down the exit ramps. As they got to the open night life of the city and noise, he motioned for her to plug in the ear piece that was connected to the radio of the side car. She quickly plugged in the earphones which took a bit of maneuvering due to the helmet and finally when it was plugged in, there she could hear the jockey deejay announcing the next dedicated song. The deejay sounded like Naruto in his usual cheeky and happy mood. He sounded like he enjoyed playing the role of announcer. She wondered if the boys had hijacked the radio station and was taking it over like how they always discussed about it when they got together.

The Naruto sounding man says loudly through the ear piece, "Hello, Konoha! Yes, it's a beautiful night and we have ourselves a special dedication to a special girl out there who doesn't know just how much she is worth to her partner. Where ever she may be right now, I hope that these words reach her." He was then cut off and the music started. It was an old classic love song that was sung by a younger singer and mixed as a club mix flavor.

It made her recall so many memories because the lyrics had a special line that spoke to her heart, 'we're in heaven now.' It was slow at first but it eventually quickens to the pulse of her heart. She was looking at the bright lights of the Konoha city from the sidecar and was amazed that he wanted her to experience this moment like this. The strong winds brushing against her and she leans in the leather seat more comfortably and relaxes a bit to the entertainment that he had in store for her while tightening her hold on the jacket and smelling the light hint of tea leaves that lingers from it.

He finally stops the bike at a playground. He motions to her that they had arrived by pointing at the playground's surrounding tall brick wall and an opening arch way nearby to the playground. She returned all the bike accessories but kept the jacket and continued on her way to the next place that he was probably waiting for her.

There was Hinata waiting at the swings when she entered. She ran toward her and saw that Hinata was holding a box. When they finished greeting each other, Hinata gave her the box and hugged TenTen very tightly to say, "Relax it's not a bomb." Hinata then smiles at her and waves 'good bye' leaving TenTen alone to open the box while sitting on the swing that Hinata had sat on earlier.

It was a small wooden box and when she opened it up, there was a plaque. The plaque stated that the park was dedicated to a girl that had stolen a boy's heart at this very park long ago. Instantly she recalled long ago their first meeting. It was at the school playground and she wanted to show off her acrobatic abilities and began doing flips at the playground's vault makeshift that was connected to the monkey bars. A young Neji back then approached her and asked her to stop flashing her undergarments about the place. And there right before her eyes were the bars themselves as if they had been preserved all these years and then she remembered the Middle school she attended with him was demolished but that this must have been the remains of that once standing educational institution.

Suddenly the speakers to the park came on and a song began to play. This time the song was one Neji's favorite. It was a tango piece played by his favorite cellist and violinist. The beats were whimsical yet powerful in each sound because it made you want to move to the rhythm. She smiled thinking that this must have been what he felt that day as kids in this small playground long ago. She quickly put down the box and did some tango moves that she learned recently from him during their lunch breaks with the soft summer winds leading her.

When the song was over, she stopped and saw that Shino who was waiting for her at the archway of the park. She walked toward him wondering what can Neji do now that he had gone this far. She placed the plaque back to where it was supposed to be sitting on the brick wall and wondered how long he had kept the secret of keeping this park to himself.

They walked together for a bit until they rounded a corner to an empty grocery store lot and she noticed the helicopter parked there.

"Madame, shall we?" said Shino as he offered to help her up onto the air craft. He got into the pilot's cockpit after closing the door and made sure she was secured. He motioned for her plug her ears with the ear plugs he had prepared her. She asked, "No music?"

He smiled and said, "Not on this ride." She nodded her head in compliance and sat back to enjoy the scenery that he was going to show her. They flew over Konoha and he lowered a bit closer to the skyscrapers and buildings of the city. He slowed down near an animated billboard and there the lyrics to a popular romantic song ran across the screen; the lyrics to the song that she bought a long time ago. She thought it was beautiful and sad. It was explaining how a lonely girl was asking her boyfriend to come back home to her again. Even with the vibrating aircraft she could instantly play the music in her head and started to sing the song out loud to herself.

When the song lyrics were over, there at the end was a note stating for all of Konoha to read: Let's meet at the usual place, Vice President. The helicopter pilot took that at a sign and went toward the only place that she could think of, the Konoha High School.

Shino then lands the flying mechanism on the top of the roof and she quickly unbuckled herself and didn't even thank Shino for trip and began exiting the air craft and running toward the roof door. She kicked off her heels and then ripped the bottom half of her constricting skirt. She flew down the stairs until it reached the third floor that she was so well accustomed to returning to its surroundings.

It was her sanctuary when she was at this school and it was the one place that she knew that he would be at back then. Her tears were flying toward her hair due to the speed that she had picked up while she zoomed down the familiar hall. Her panty hose had already been ruined from the trip down the cemented cold stairs. She didn't care any more; she just wanted to see him.

The anticipation that he worked so hard to build for her was all worth it when she locates the door that always bought comfort to her. By the time she reached the windowed door, she tried to catch her breath and tried very hard to straightening out her clothes that was a now a complete mess. Her hair became loose from all of the recent events but was now flowing everywhere. She had it cut many times during college and each time he was mad that she did it but since they made up at the hospital that night, she had promised that she would grow her hair out for him again and now it was pretty close to her hair length in High School.

She prepared herself mentally for whatever song he had ready for her to listen to. She opened the frosted glass door and was surprised that no one was inside. She ran around the room looking for any sign of a music player mechanism, turned on the computer to see if the music was in there, and then finally she saw her usual spot that looked so inviting and was currently opened with the night winds calling her to come. She gave up looking for his note or message and tried to get her butt onto the ledge that she always sat at easily. The current skirt wouldn't allow her that privilege so she only did what she only knew how.

She looked outside and thanked her mother for forcing those stage gymnastic training on her and she then raised her arms up high in the air. She took a deep breath of air and then bent her back until she completed a back stand. She then moved her hands into the right position so that she knew she would position herself on the ledge. She did all that while she was backward from the window and bent her neck to navigate. On the count of three, she had done a half somersault landing both her thighs on the sill and she sat back up. She was amazed that she actually was capable of doing it after so long an absence from such strenuous exercise.

She sat there watching the sky who was her friend during her hard, sad, and happy times at that academic establishment.

"You're faster than I planned," came a deep voice to her right.

"You," she said looking at a Neji harnessed and helmeted to climbing equipment and ropes. She was surprised that he was out there just hanging about in his usual pressed suit and tie.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

"Sure," she answered and performed the backward handstand and somersault that was all coming back to her now. By the time she was standing again, he was already on the ledge. He proceeded to enter the room and undress from the harnesses. He then walked up to her and asked, "How was your night?"

"It was beautiful. Thank you," she said while walking closer to him now that he had taken off the ropes.

"Now you know how I feel when I think of you," he said while kissing one of the palms of her hand that was touching his cheeks. "TenTen, I have been waiting forever to say this to you but will take my name?"

She looked at his tie and then traveled up to his eyes realizing that this was a serious question and that he was proposing to her this very moment.

"What if I never showed up here and followed your directions?" she asked back.

"Truth be told, I had all the confidence that you would come running into my arms. I just didn't think you would be faster than my calculations and beat me to this office. You would never take my expensive gifts so I had to propose to you the best way I knew that would touch your heart by letting you feel how much love you. Seeing all the places that make me think of you, hearing all the music that makes me think of you, and understanding how my heart beats when you are around. We had our ups and downs but I think we are ready now to reach the next level of our relationship together. So, what say you?"

She leaned in toward him with her hair flying about and heart racing from the words that particularly took the air away from her and they kissed under the sky of an exiting moon and sun rising. She hoped that he understood what she was trying to convey with her body language or that he already knew the answer a long time ago.

The couple continued kissing while the sun was splashing his rays everywhere across the sky and having fun watching over the merriment of people celebrating downstairs in the High School gymnasium while waiting for the couple to come downstairs and announce the good news but the couple never did come downstairs.

"Excuse me but can you show me the way to the party?" asked a girl driving a tan colored Rolls Royce with a small stuffed rabbit as a car decoration swinging from the rearview mirror. From the look of the car, it looked like she was lost finding her way here and was probably stuck somewhere in the nearby woods.

The young gentleman who was trying to escape the party and taking a smoking break was surprised to see an unfamiliar face tonight and answered, "Are you here for the Hyuga party?"

"Yes," answered the young lady peaking out from her driver side window.

"If you park your car here, you could take that side path and eventually you will reach the gymnasium," he answered her and pointed at the direction of the school gym and wondering where he had seen those eyes before.

The girl then parked her car, walked toward him, thanked him and asked, "Do you think the proposal was a success."

He smiled and said, "I believe so, they never showed their faces again. Well, it was a fitting proposal to a great couple."

"Yeah, it was beautiful. I hope my proposal is just as beautiful as that one," she said dreamily and he thought that for once a girl could be kinda cute. She then waved 'good bye' to him and left him all alone standing in the parking lot. He threw his cigarette away and got in his yellow sports car and drove off thinking about his next design for the ceramics he was working on and thought that the girl just now was cute in her navy cardigan blazer with white trims and matching skirt. He was thinking navy and white stripes and maybe bunny rabbits. "Nah," he said out loud while driving his car toward the horizon of a new day.

**The End**


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